Tuesday, February 15, 2011

the treehouse

in 2009 a little idea started unfurling about what would become my daughter's first bed. i looked all about and disliked everything i saw until i ran across an awesome post by blogger joanna goddard of a cup of jo about a treehouse built indoors from mathy by bols. now you see, i have always wanted a treehouse so i thought any child of mine would also want one. i did drawings inspired by this post and talked a friend of mine, who is good with numbers and owns power tools, to get involved.

tula mirth picked out the paint with her wise two-year-old sensibilities: orange on the outside and eggshell blue on the inside. she even helped paint it in her little diaper. i love hearing her tell the story of making her bed.

and so, tula mirth has a treehouse bed. we built it in 2009 and it has survived a move and a large birthday party with boys leaping from it's steps. i look at it and smile. it is good memories and i enjoy how everyone, no matter how large, wants to climb inside.

I just found your blog via a Cup of Jo. I can't believe how great your tree house looks. Awesome idea. I mean let's be real: who wouldn't have wanted to sleep in a tree house as a kid?! Kisses from a Parisian mama (no tree house in our sardine-like flat! :) )

hi emi. i based a drawing off a link to a treehouse that joanna blogged about but unfortunately the link is no longer up. i had the help of a friend who has experience building so he helped sort out the math for the structure. there are also several books about treehouses which you could check out and adapt within your interior space so you would not have to start from scratch.

for those of you wondering, the treehouse is 8 feet high. i don't have any blueprints as the treehouse was developed from rough sketches i did and i built it with a friend who worked out the math on scraps of paper. so sorry! there are some DIY treehouse books out there that could be helpful in adapting an indoor treehouse.

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! Would also LOVE to know where the beautiful & fun rug came from? I'm from a small town...I've seen it several times now, so I assume it's from a popular store, but out here in the country, we lose track of what the popular stores are nowadays:)

I have saved this post, pinned it on Pinterest, and I just keep coming back to it. My son Hudson is going to have to move to a "big boy bed" soon, and I'm afraid it must be a treehouse bed! I'm bummed that the plans you adapted from aren't online anymore. I think you could make money coming up with them and selling them! Let me know if you do - I'll be first in line! (My husband and I aren't "handy," so we'll have to hire it done - it would be so great to just give them the plans and say, we want THIS!)

many, many people have asked about the plans for the treehouse bed and i must confess that i never did any proper plans of the bed. i looked at a photograph and adapted that into a few sketches on some scrap paper. a friend, who is a whiz at math, worked out the measurements, some of which, were written onto the actual boards of wood as we went along and were never transcribed in any other place. the treehouse is eight-feet in height and was built to hold a traditional twin mattress. the mattress was placed inside the bed before the fourth wall and roof were put into place. i hope this helps some of you with your own treehouse projects. please send me an email with photos of your own beds!

hi paulene,we built it outside in a garage and then took it apart and reassembled it inside. the treehouse has actually even been moved to a second home. we designed it so that all of the walls, the stairs, the base and roof can be transported.good luck!

This is so fab! I found this pin on pintrest and showed my daughter and she is freaking out. I would like to make one and I was wondering around how much this cost you? I don't want it to get too expensive. Thanks! -Raquel